Overview of LANwise Web Suite

One of the major reasons for the rapid acceptance of the Web is its ease-of-use. From a web browser, an end-user can access information from countless sources without having to know the details of each system. The burden of compatibility is placed on the sources of information, the web applications. What is required if a customer wants to make information from the A Series directly available on a corporate intranet, or even on the Internet? Anticipating this need, Upstanding has developed a suite of host publishing products that integrate the A Series into the Web, the LANwise Web Suite.

The migration to the Web can be characterized by three major stages. The first stage is the adoption of the browser as the graphical user interface of choice. The second step is accessing legacy data through the Web. The last step is modification of legacy applications so they fit the model of the Web. LANwise Web Suite is a complete solution for the customer that is comprised of products that address each of those issues: FASTerm for Java, LANwise Transform, and the LANwise Web Server.

Web servers and Web browsers have a relationship similar to that of the mainframe and the dumb terminal. Web servers, and their applications, are responsible for delivering the data in a standard format, and Web browsers, like terminals, simply present the data. Java applets are downloadable files that are executed within a Web browser. Thus, Java applets enable a Web browser to execute local applications. Java applets offer the benefit of platform-independence.

Besides ease-of-use, one of the greatest advantages of the Web over the client/server paradigm is that of cost. The cost savings are reflected in hardware, software and reduced maintenance cost. Hardware savings will be realized through the design of dedicated "Web devices." Companies have already introduced network computers, built to access Web applications. These devices can replace PCs at a price closer to that of a terminal. Then there is the cost of software:  certainly hundreds of dollars for PC software versus nothing for network computer software. Most important, but infrequently analyzed, is the cost of maintenance.

The Web brings back the benefit of centralized management. No application software need be installed on the client. Even if Java applets are used, there is no need to setup and maintain the installation of applications on hundreds, or thousands, of individual desktops; installation and configuration of a Web server may take only minutes and virtually eliminates desktop maintenance by centralizing distribution and configuration management. In contrast to the usual client/server environment, in which the annual maintenance of a single desktop can easily exceed $4,000, the centralized management offered by an intranet application can easily save a large site hundreds of thousands of dollars in hidden costs annually.

LANwise Web Server
The LANwise Web Server is the fundamental component of the LANwise Web suite. The LANwise Web Server supports both static and dynamic documents. Static documents are simply files output by the  Web Server. Dynamic documents are those generated by programs written to an operating system-specific programmatic interface, the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). CGI applications can do anything other applications do, such as accessing DMSII databases or Keyed I/O files to make that data available to Web clients. To simplify application development, the LANwise Web Server can convert data between EBCDIC that is native to the A Series and ASCII that is specified for the Web.

LANwise Transform
LANwise Transform is a T27 terminal screen transformer. LANwise Transform dynamically maps T27 and its predecessors terminal screens to HTML, to use A Series/Clearpath applications in the World Wide Web and corporate intranets.

LANwise Transform is platform independent. Because it is transforming the screens to HTML, LANwise Transform can be used to run A Series applications on various different platforms and their operating environments, such as PCs, Macintosh and Unix machines, and Network Computers (NCs). In addition, LANwise Transform promotes "zero administration desktop" initiatives by allowing you to centralize program and configuration files on the A Series, decreasing administration overhead, and increasing security and maintainability. For the user who wants something as easy as FASTerm for Java, but with the potential of enhancing the application to be as sophisticated as possible, the answer is LANwise Transform.

LANwise Transform is an "incremental HTML gateway." It is an application level gateway that allows customers to immediately use a browser as their primary graphical user interface and take advantage of their existing applications without any changes, while incrementally enhancing the applications to take advantage of the user interface a browser provides.

LANwise Transform allows existing A Series applications to display information within a browser without any changes. It automatically converts T27 data streams to HTML data streams that a browser can understand. As the user wants to enhance the application to take advantage of the presentation capabilities of a browser, they can do so. This is done at the application level by enhancing the application to output HTML. The resulting application generates a hybrid of T27 and HTML data streams. The T27 data streams are converted to HTML by LANwise Transform while the direct HTML data streams are unaltered.  LANwise Transform also provides another means by which T27 and HTML data streams may be combined: Transformations.

Transformations are HTML templates that can be used in conjunction  with T27 data streams. With Transformations, users create static HTML documents that are merged with the T27 data stream to produce a Web page

FASTerm for JAVA
FASTerm for Java is a terminal emulator written in the Java Programming language. FASTerm for Java emulates the Unisys T27 terminal and its predecessors to add Unisys T27 terminal emulation to the World Wide Web and corporate intranets.

FASTerm for Java is platform independent. Because it is written in Java, FASTerm for Java can be run on various different platforms and their operating environments, such as PCs, Macintosh and Unix machines, and Network Computers (NCs). In addition, FASTerm for Java promotes "zero administration desktop" initiatives by allowing you to centralize program and configuration files on the A Series, decreasing administration overhead, and increasing security and maintainability.

FASTerm for Java can be run in two ways - as an applet or an application. FASTerm for Java can run as an applet within a Java-capable Web browser or applet viewer, or as an application within an operating environment that provides a Java Virtual Machine.

FASTerm for Java can be run as an applet by invoking the FASTerm for Java class file from an apple tag within a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) document or Web page. A web page containing the FASTerm for Java applet can be designed as any Web page would be with graphics, and hyperlinked text or commands such as Unisys A Series system commands or functions.  FASTerm for Java provides terminal emulation in the "virtual machine" created by a Java-capable Web browser or applet viewer when the HTML document referencing FASTerm for Java is loaded.

FASTerm for Java can also be run as an application (i.e. outside of a Web browser or applet viewer) by invoking the FASTerm for Java class files on an operating system that supports a Java Virtual Machine, or in conjunction with an operating system add-on that provides a Java Virtual Machine.
The FASTerm for Java terminal emulator is distributed in two forms: a lite version and a standard version. FASTerm for Java Lite provides minimal feature content and is streamlined to load into a browser quickly. The standard FASTerm for Java terminal emulator provides a more feature-rich emulation environment at the expense of a longer load time due to its large size.